Spaghetti and Sapphires: A Solangelo One-shot
by SpeckleFish326
Summary: Five years after the Blood of Olympus, it's Nico and Will's fifth anniversary. While Nico tries to put something perfect together, Will worries about a question he has to ask his boyfriend. And Leo and Lou Ellen have an evil plan for their friends. This is a Valentine's Day special for all of my readers! I hope you enjoy!


_**"LEO VALDEZ," **_**Nico roared, **pointing a pale finger at the Latino man hurriedly chopping vegetables beside him. _"YOU SAID THAT SPAGHETTI WAS EASY TO COOK!" _

"Well, for ANYBODY BUT YOU, it IS easy!" Leo snapped, dumping the peppers and carrots into a pan to sauté. "I'm a vegetarian tofu taco guy, not a chef! And when you said you needed help, I wasn't counting on an Italian who couldn't make pasta!"

"I AM A VERY BUSY PERSON. I NEVER LEARNED HOW," Nico shot back, throwing the spaghetti pot into the sink. The remains of a melted plastic spoon stuck to half-cooked pasta in the pot. It was the fourth box of pasta Nico had managed to ruin, and his temper was growing shorter. They had ten minutes, tops, before Will was coming, and everything needed to be perfect by then.

It was Nico and Will's fifth anniversary, and Nico had wanted to do something special to celebrate. After a week and a half of silently agonizing over what to do, he'd decided on cooking. It was supposed to be so easy, a simple dinner (cooked by Nico, with Leo's help) on the Big House porch.

Nico just hadn't realized how truly terrible he was at cooking. Like Leo said, whoever heard of an Italian who couldn't even boil spaghetti?

Grumpily, he got a new pot from the cupboard and started to fill it with hot water. He stole a glance at the clock on the stove, to see how long he had until Will showed up.

Nine minutes and counting.

It was time to Iris-message Lou Ellen.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Will washed the blood off of his hands in the infirmary sink, sighing in relief. After he bandaged up Lacey's arm (which idiot thought it was a good idea to give the Stolls a bow?) there was only one more patient he had to treat before he could go meet Nico at the Big House. Will shut off the water and went to get the bandages.

A few minutes later (five minutes before he had to meet Nico, but who's counting?) Will sent Lacey on her merry way. He turned to the last patient of the day.

Lou Ellen.

The girl had a huge gash in her shin, which was surrounded by dried blood. She was also covered in scratches. "What happened to you?" Will asked, walking over to Lou Ellen with a worried frown. What had she gotten herself into this time?

Lou grinned. "Fell down Half-Blood Hill while being… pursued," she said.

"Pursued by whom, if I may ask?" Will leaned down to inspect her leg, when a loud cry of, "OW!" came from somewhere outside. Will sighed. "I guess I'll be here a bit longer than I expected…" he raked a hand through his blond hair as Clarisse Rodriguez entered the infirmary. She was supporting her husband, Chris, who was sporting a black eye and limping.

"Pity," said Lou Ellen from her cot. "I heard you have a date tonight?"

"Yeah, in," Will checked his watch. "Three minutes actually… I guess I'm going to be late…"

"Oh, how unfortunate," Lou replied, but she appeared to be smothering giggles. Will decided not to ask questions, and he gave her a bit of nectar. Her scratches and the cut healed up quickly, and she left the infirmary. Will turned his attention to Chris and Clarisse.

"What's with the black eye?" Will asked, as he handed Chris some ambrosia.

"I made Clarisse mad," he answered, smiling. Then he whispered to Will, "Whatever you do, don't call her Rissy."

~0~

A half hour later, Will was finally free. No less than _seven_ patients with various injuries had shown up as he tried to get to his date. Now, Will was finally ready to leave. He had changed out of his camp T-shirt and jeans into a trim black suit. As he pulled the suit jacket on, he reached into his pocket to be sure that the little black velvet box was where it should be. As his fingers brushed the soft surface of the box, Will felt a wave of nervousness go through him. He took a deep breath, checked that his blue tie was tied right, and left the infirmary.

He hoped Nico would forgive him for being late.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Will was late, and Nico was ecstatic (which was saying a lot for the son of Hades). Lou Ellen had outdone herself, manipulating the Mist to make Nico's boyfriend think all of those campers were injured. He and Leo (or mostly Leo) had put the finishing touches on the dinner and set the table. Everything was ready.

A small fold-out table on the porch was dressed up with a navy tablecloth. Three white taper candles illuminated the table form an obsidian candelabra. Two black satin napkins were folded with silverware inside them, beside china plates and two of Camp Half-Blood's magic goblets.

Nico checked his watch – it was seven thirty-two. According to the iris message he'd just gotten from Lou Ellen, Will should be arriving any second now.

A minute later, Nico heard the sound of footstep from the direction of the cabins. Soon, a tall man with blonde hair and freckles sauntered into view. Nico smiled, and stood up from his lawn chair as Will ascended the Big House steps. The son of Apollo was wearing a black suit that fit him very nicely, and his blue eyes shone. Nico's stomach exploded with butterflies. "Evening, sunshine," He joked, taking his boyfriend's hand. Will held something behind his back. "Evening, shadow-boy," he retorted. "Sorry I'm late." "It's fine," Nico replied, hiding a smile.

"Good. I brought you something."

Will brought his hand out from behind his back – he held a bundle of sticks tied together with a black satin ribbon. He handed them to Nico. As Nico watched, the twigs began to shimmer. They transformed into a bouquet of magnificent and fragrant white roses. The Italian man's pale cheeks flushed red, and he smiled. "Will, that's amazing! How'd you do it?"

"I don't reveal my sources," Will said mysteriously, his blue eyes sparkling. He leaned in and softly kissed Nico's cheek. "Now, what do you have planned?"

"Nothing much," Nico said modestly.

Leo chose this moment to sashay out of the Big House, wearing a waiter's uniform and a huge grin. "WELCOME, GENTLEMEN," he announced in a loud voice. "To Chef Leo's Amazing Pasta House, where Latinos cook Italian food better than Italians do!" He stared pointedly at Nico.

Nico was shell-shocked – he hadn't planned this. He also felt a sudden anxiety unfurl in his chest. He played along as best he could, allowing Leo to usher them to the table and order them champagne from the goblets. But he really had no idea what was going on. And it was _very_ difficult not to break character and demand that Leo explain himself.

Especially when the Latino man knocked over his champagne glass.

~0~

An hour into the date, Nico was _really _trying not to cry. Leo had literally managed to screw everything about the anniversary up, from knocking over the champagne to knocking _Nico _out of his lawn chair. Leo had apologized sheepishly and helped Nico to his feet, but it didn't make the Italian feel any better. Leo had even managed to set Will's lovely suit on fire, as he tried to re-light a candle with a flaming hand.

Will had been really nice about the whole thing, but Nico felt that he was acting. His poor blonde boyfriend must be having the worst night of his life, certainly the worst _date_. He tried everything he could think of the get the date back on track, but nothing worked, thanks to Leo's constant interruptions. It was like Leo was _deliberately _sabotaging him.

But when Leo accidentally dumped the plates of pasta on Nico's lap, it was too much.

Nico jumped from his chair and ran off of the porch, ignoring Will's cries for him to come back. He ran for the woods, his brown eyes blurring with tears.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Will had noticed Nico's discomfort right away, but he hadn't said anything. Now, as the love of his life sped away into the darkness, Will wished he had. Clearly something had been very wrong, and he should have asked about it.

"You should go after him man," Leo said from behind Will. He lifted his head and looked at the 'waiter,' whose brown eyes were serious. "For real. Go comfort him or something. Staying here won't fix anything."

Will took Leo's advice a sprinted off of the porch.

~0~

He found Nico in a clearing in the middle of the dark forest, sitting sullenly on a log. The son of Hades didn't say anything as Will sat beside him, only continued staring into the shadows.

'Hey," Will said gently. "You okay?"

Nico shook his head slowly.

"What's wrong?"

Nico turned his head. After a quiet moment, he spoke. "I – I really love you," he choked out. "And I'd planned that dinner for weeks, tried to get it perfect, to show you what you mean to me," He choked back a sob. "And it all just fell apart." Nico buried his head in his hands, and the silver skull ring on his left hand glinted dully.

Will wrapped his arms around Nico and pulled him close. "Hey," He said. He put a finger under Nico's chin and gently pulled his face up, so his brown eyes met Will's blue ones. "I don't' need a dinner to tell me that you love me," he said, staring at the sad, angelic face of Nico di Angelo. "I already know you do. And I love you too."

"You do?" Nico whispered, touching the burn mark on Will's shirt with a pale finger.

"I do." Will started to reach for his jacket pocket, but stopped when he heard a small gasp from Nico. He looked up.

At the edge of the clearing were two purple words, made of what was most likely Mist, floating in midair.

_Follow Me._

The words condensed into a small sphere of purple light and began to float away through the trees.

Nico and Will exchanged a quick glance, before getting off of the log and following the sphere.

From their hiding place in the nearby brush, Leo silently fist bumped Lou Ellen.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The ball of purple light led them to Half-Blood Hill. The sun had set completely, but it was a clear night. All of the stars were visible in the navy sky, as well as most of the camp. Nico could see the glow of the sing-along campfire in the distance, and a faint glimpse of Long Island Sound. The smell of fresh strawberries wafted up from the strawberry fields.

A checkered picnic blanket was laid out on the grass, and a large wicker basket sat atop it. A single tiki torch was thrust into the ground beside the blanket, glowing merrily. The purple sphere hovered above it, and changed into a single word.

_Enjoy._

"What is this?" Will raced over to the blanket and opened the basket. "Nico!" he called. "Look at this!"

Nico walked nervously over to the picnic basket. Inside were a bottle of champagne and two champagne flutes, two plates of Leo's pasta, and an apple pie. A folded piece of white paper addressed 'To Will and Nico' was tucked into one of the flutes. Nico reached in and picked it up, then unfolded it and read the contents. Will peered at it over his shoulder.

'_Dear Will and Nico,_

_We are sincerely sorry to ruin your anniversary, but we hope you enjoy your little starlit picnic. Setting is a key factor for a romantic meal, and we think that Half-Blood Hill at nine is a bit of a better choice that the Big House porch (no offense Nico). Will, good luck._

_Don't do anything stupid, you two!_

_~ Leo and Lou Ellen_

_**P.S. – This was Lou Ellen's idea! Not mine! Keep the skeletons focused on her!**_

_**-Bad Boy Supreme**__'_

"Leo and Lou Ellen did all of this?" Nico asked, staring at the note. "Wow…" Will replied, delicately removing a plate of pasta from the basket. "It's still warm, Nico, and you never got to eat. Here," he plucked the note from Nico's hand and replaced it with the plate and a fork, and then got the other dish for himself. Nico poured the champagne, but neither of them touched it. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, holding hands and eating spaghetti.

When both plates were cleared, Will wiped his face with a napkin. Then he suddenly got to his feet. "Nico," he said nervously. "I, um, I wanted to ask you something." His hand was in the pocket of his suit jacket. He ran a hand through his already adorably rumpled blonde hair.

"Um, yeah Will," Nico replied quizzically, standing up. "You can ask me anything."

"Okay…" Will took a deep breath.

What happened next was something that Nico certainly hadn't planned for.

Will got down on one knee. He removed a small black velvet box form his pocket and opened it. Inside was a platinum ring, shaped to look like it was made of silver bones. In the center was a small blue sapphire, the exact color of Will's eyes.

As Nico's eyes pooped out of his head (not literally, of course), Will began to speak.

"Nico," he began. "When I first met you, we were both scared kids facing two huge wars, against Kronos and Gaea. At first, I was a little afraid of you. Then I got to know you and I realized that you were the most amazing person I've ever met, or will ever meet. I love your laugh and your eyes, and I love your smile. I love that I can make you smile. I love everything about you, and I can't imagine a day without you. I want to spend the rest of my life, however long or short it ends up being, with you."

Nico was pretty sure he'd stopped breathing at this point.

"Nico Giovanni di Angelo, will you marry me?" Will asked, nervously but happily.

Nico hesitated for exactly half a second before launching himself into Will's arms and kissing him fiercely. "Yes," he said simply, and Will slipped the sapphire ring onto Nico's hand. Then he kissed Will again.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Well, your evil plan worked. That's for sure," Leo said to the girl beside him, who was holding a pair of binoculars. "No dip," Lou Ellen replied, as she watched Will slip the ring onto his new fiancée's finger. She pulled the binoculars from her face as Nico kissed Will again, so as to give the lovebirds privacy.

"You are downright evil," said Leo, kicking a twig. "But I have to admit, that whole purple Mist thing was pretty cool. You've gotten better at Mist manipulation."

"Hazel Levesque taught me a few tricks," said Lou Ellen, putting her binoculars away. 'Come on. It's getting close to curfew, and the head counselor of the Hecate cabin shouldn't set a bad example for the younger kids by being shredded by patrol harpies."

"Since when have YOU been a good example?" Leo demanded, but he followed her through the forest and back towards camp.

He really hoped he wouldn't wake up to an undead guy banging on his window.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

** Okay, I seriously love this couple way too much. Solangelo is probs one of my OTPs, so I hope I wrote it all right. What did you guys think?**

** Happy St. Valentine's Day to all of my readers! I hope you enjoyed this little Valentine's special! Special Thanks to Sophia, Abbie, Lizzie, and Jackie for being all around awesome (and Liz, I expect that one shot we talked about in my email either tonight or tomorrow!) Have a great February vacation (if you get one – sorry to all of you who don't!)**

** If you live in the Northeast, stay inside and stay warm.**

** I love you all! 3 **

** ~SpeckleFish326**


End file.
